Finally, you can sign up and verify an Alipay account without a Chinese bank account now!
It has always been very easy to sign up for Alipay, but it is very difficult to verify an Alipay account as a foreigner in the past. It requires you to have a Chinese bank card to complete the verification, which is a very high threshold.
But in the last 2 years, Alipay has changed its rules and now you only need a passport and face verification to have a verified Alipay.
In this article, I will explain step by step how to create and verify your Alipay account without using a Chinese bank card.
Note: The Alipay account I mentioned in this article refers to the Alipay personal account, which is different from the Alipay business account offered by Alipay for some foreign companies.
1. Why you should have a verified Alipay account
If you are planning to use Alipay regularly, I suggest you verify your Alipay. if you don’t verify your Alipay, you can still shop on Taobao. but if you have a verified Alipay, there are many benefits:
- Your Taobao and Alipay accounts are safer
Because your account has been verified by your real name, Alipay will trust you more and will not freeze or restrict your account unexpectedly anymore.
- Your tourpass money is more protected
To be honest, now your tourpass money is not safe and Alipay may freeze or stop you from using it anytime. With verified Alipay, your tourpass will be more secure.
- Verify your 1688.com account
If you are using a 1688 account, you can complete the verification of your 1688 account by linking to your verified Alipay. This will also greatly minimize the possibility of your 1688 account being restricted or unable to log in.
2. Create your Alipay Account
You can register on your computer or on your cell phone, but at the time of verification, Alipay will still ask you to download the app to complete the verification, so I suggest you download the Alipay app directly to register.
Step1. Download and install the Alipay app
You can download it directly from Google Play or Apple’s App Store by searching for Alipay(支付宝).
When installing, you should give Alipay permission to access your camera, we will need it to scan your passport and face recognition when verifying your Alipay later.
Step2. Enter your mobile number
Now open your Alipay app. if the page is in Chinese, you can set it to English by clicking on the “language(语言)” in the upper right corner.
We only need to do one thing on this page-enter your mobile number. the default country code 86 is for China, you have to change it to your own area code.
Then enter your mobile phone number next to it, remember, don’t add “0” in front of your mobile number.
Step3. Sign up
The Alipay system will detect that this is a new mobile number and then go to the sign-up page.
As in the above step, you need to select your area code and enter your mobile number again.
Step4. enter the verification code
Next, an agreement page will pop up, click agree to it.
on the verification code page, fill in the 4-digit verification code you received.
If everything goes well, you’ll be on the Alipay homepage, next we will proceed to verify the Alipay account.
Click “Me” on the bottom right corner of the user center page.
3. Verify your Alipay Account
Step 1. In the User Center, click the arrow in the upper right corner to go to the profile page.
Step 2. You can see on the profile page, the second column (Real-name verification) is grayed out(Unverified), we now click here to complete the verification.
Step 3. Now we come to the identity verification page, you can see that there are 3 options, which are
- Passport chip & face verification
- Verify face
- Mainland China bank card
Usually, we choose the easiest one – Verify face.
The best verification method is still the mainland China bank card verification, after completing the bank verification, you can use alipay balance, you can use alipay to receive and pay with more amount.
But it is not easy to register a Chinese bank account, you need to come to China to open an account in person. you can’t open an account remotely or in your country.
If you want to learn more, here is a guide on how to open China bank accounts as a foreigner.
Step 4. The first step is to scan your passport, preferably in a bright area.
Step 5. Then it will jump to the face recognition page, click “verify” to scan your face.
Step 6. If everything is OK, they will send you a short message to tell you that the verification is successful. you will also be at the certification center.
You can see that your personal information is “Incomplete”, you need to click here to update your personal information.
Step 7. In the personal information page, you can see that there are 2 fields that are not completed, “Occupation type” and “Address”.
Step 8. Click “Occupation type”, from the many occupation options that pop up, choose one according to your personal situation.
Step 9. Now click “Address”,
for “Location”, you can choose “海外(overseas)” for both state and city, then click “确认(confirm)”.
for “Address”, you can input your street address. then click “Save” to finish the whole process.
Step 10. After you have completed the above steps, you can see on your personal profile page that the second column (Real-name verification) is turned to blue(Verified).
You now have a verified Alipay personal account!
4. Set up alipay Login and payment password, Email, etc.
After registering and verifying your Alipay account, we need to set up your Alipay account in order to make it more convenient and secure for future use.
Step 1. Click on the Settings icon in the upper right corner of your user center.
Step 2. On the settings page, click the first option “Account and Security”.
Step 3. Now we are on the “Account and Security” page.
You can set up many things about your account here. I will introduce 3 main ones: Email Address, Alipay password, Login password.
You can add your email address so that you can log in directly with your email address in the future.
Alipay password here means Alipay payment password, it is a 6-digit number and it is very important.
You need to use it when you pay in Taobao, 1688, and even when you change some of your alipay information. So I suggest you write down this password on paper to avoid forgetting it.
Login password means your Alipay login password, it can be a combination of numbers and letters.
5. Final words
If you have done the above steps as I said, congratulations, you should have a full Alipay account now!
Next, you can shop on Taobao or top up tourpass to pay for your purchases.
If you have any problems or questions about the Alipay registration process, feel free to leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!
342 thoughts on “How To Register And Verify Your Alipay Without Chinese Bank Account”
Hi,
I create alipay account via the alipay apps in iOS and I only able to add my local credit card. I understand that I can’t get my account verified unless I open an account in China. As I had added my credit card successfully, will I able to buy any item in 1688 or taobao with it. Since it is credit card, so 3% charges will be added to the payment right ?
I haven’t try it but if I want to pay in 1688 can I just pay using the alipay apps but getting my supplier alipay account number ?? Or I go thru 1688 payment method?? normally I buy stuff in 1688 thru agent so I have no idea about it and I not sure where to ask
>_<
View CommentHi,
View Comment1.yes,you can,and 3% charges will be added to the payment.
2.No,you can not send payment directly to your supplier alipay account like paypal unless you have a verified alipay account,you have to go thru 1688 payment method.
Hi,
View Commentcan i register to Alipay with a commercial bank account ?
should i enter the bank account name as the Company name, or as the name in my foreign passport ?
after registered, can i pay on TAOBAO with my local visa credit card ?
thanks for the help.
no,you must use a personal China bank account to verify your alipay account.and yes,you can pay with your local visa credit card(without verifying your alipay account).
View CommentHello Eric,
I opened and registered a Alipay account while living in China. I moved back to my home country(USA) and now I want to use that Alipay account with the newly created account in Taobao. My question is , I’m trying to link my current alipay account to the new created Taobao account. I’m having difficulty because every time I opened the Alipay account, the settings screen is in Chinese. And I know more about Chickens than the Chinese language. I need help in English figuring out the steps to achieve my objective. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated . Thanks, Gabriel
View CommentHello Eric,
View CommentAfter I have a verified account, if I need to modify the email or phone, I’ll have to check the account again
Hi,
View CommentEric i am from malaysia and i wanna buy things from 1688.but payment must use alipay and i did register and i find some agent to recharge for me as well.but its failure due to real name verification.can i open a account in bank of china in malaysia branch and do the verification the account?.or else other ways to solve this matter?.
NO,you can’t open a account in bank of china in malaysia branch,you must come to China to open a bank account.
View Commenteric hay, I’m from Indonesia .. I want to buy an item from china (1688) but the way it should be put on the Alipay payment .. but difficult to get Alipay account kah .. can you help me?
View CommentHi Eric/guys,
Just sharing a recent horrifying shopping experience with taobao. Feel free to share if you’ve any comments.
I tried to make a purchase on taobao, intending to purchase it directly and have it shipped over to Singapore (like I usually do for years). With the removal of enets, I was made to pay with credit card. I was able to pay for my items but when was unable to pay for my shipping (regardless of whether or not I use the same credit card).
Contacted taobao/alipay and they said I had to submit images of my passport, credit card and credit card statement to verify my account which I felt was risky. i spoke with over 10 taobao/alipay stuff via all platforms but they insisted there’s no other way and they couldn’t answer why the system allocated the first payment to be through despite them determining that my account needed to be verified. Thankfully a friend whose relative resides in China managed to help 代付 (Singaporean friends trying using their credit cards to help but to no avail too). Otherwise all the items will be stuck in the China warehouse forever.
But anyway my other friends who did not verify their accounts managed to pay using their credit card with zero issues so I have no idea why I am the only one facing this. Also, this issue meant I will not be able to purchase items directly from taobao anymore, which is upsetting since I’ve always enjoyed purchasing items from the platform.
View CommentCan i top up my alipay account without verify it first?
View CommentNO,you can’t,but you don’t have to top up your alipay account to buy from taobao,you can pay directly with your credit card.
View Commentis there anyway to verify my account if i’m a foreigner? i do not have a china bank account! 🙁
View Commentsorry,no,you must have a China bank account.
View CommentHi eric, if my country (Brune) have “Bank of China” can i use that bank?
View CommentHI,no you can’t,it must be issued by mainland China bank.
View CommentCan I received money from another China Alipay account holder to my unverified Alipay account?
View Commentno,you can’t
View CommentHi! I’m not sure if you can help me but I guess it’s worth a shot.
I’ve been buying from taobao to singapore for several years and never had an issue with alipay despite not being verified because I usually use enets. Anyway I took a pretty long break from buying on TB (since april) and recently have been planning on making an order.
I logged into my alipay account and noticed I had some money in my account balance (which comes from when sellers refund me) and this message “根据监管部门的要求,需要您进一步完善身份验证信息才能使用余额进行付款.” It seems like since 1st July they now need accounts to be verified if not some functions will be frozen or something.
I did some googling but no one seemed to bothered by it. Anyway when I went to check out my order, I usually use whatever funds in my account balance I have and then use enets to cover the rest. But I wasn’t able to as it said I needed to verify my account. I could still pay via enets though.
The amount I have in my account balance now isn’t very much but does that means that whatever money sellers refund me from now on is frozen as I can’t use it or transfer it out?
Thanks!
View Commentyes,that is right,money go into your account balance will be frozen.if you want to withdrawal your account balance,you have to contact taobao customer service.
View CommentHello Eric,
View CommentI live in Viet Nam and I find a branch of ICBC here. Is it ok to register an account at ICBC Vietnam and verify alipay? Since alipay changed its policy, my alipay account has been locked, i miss taobao
HI,no,they dont support banks from ICBC Vietnam,it must be issued by ICBC China.
View Commentso sad. 🙁 I still held my hope.
View CommentAnd I had an amount of money locked in alipay, can I withdraw to my visa card in case I contact support service?
Hi,you should contact the taobao customer service,they will provide you the solution.
View CommentHi , I live in the US and speak Russian and understand English, I want to buy on taobao , but do not know the agents , can you help me ?
View Commentwhat kind of help do you need?I have a post on taobao agents,you can find it here:https://www.howtotao.com/best-taobao-agent-reviews/
View CommentThis is pretty much impossible unless you reside or are visiting China and have a Chinese passport. 🙁
View CommentMakes receiving refunds after-the-sale very difficult. I will never get my money back from the warehouse’s mistake.
this is sad,you can try to call alipay customer service:(852) 2215-5300,you can select English customer service.
View CommentIf you paid by a credit card, you can always Charge Back the payment by contacting your bank-issuer, if Alipay refuses to release your funds back to Visa account. They are obligated by contract with Visa and MasterCard International to return any refunds back to account holders. This means, you may not be able to pay for new purchases by using your previous refund on Alipay, but you arel entitled to get your money back without producing any passports etc, because the money will be refunded to the same account they were charged from, so it doesn’t matter whether it belongs to you or not.
If you paid by a debit card or through international payment system like Web Money etc, contact their CS for further instructions.
View CommentHello,
View CommentI live in Macau and i dont have a Chinese bank account. My account is from bnu .
I bought coupons in seven eleven to perform payment and still asking me for my identification. What should i do?
you should contact taobao English customer service.
View CommentHi Eric, is there a way to open Chinese bank account online?
View CommentNO,you must go to mainland China to open a bank account.
View CommentHi Eric, what documents are needed by the bank if going to mainland China to open a bank account?
View Commentthey only need your passport.
View CommentEric,
why do they let me create an Alipay account as a foreigner, but won’t let me use it as a foreigner ? I cannot verify the account as I am a US citizen and do not have a Chinese Bank Account from inside china. I find this bizarre.
View CommentWhich bank would you recommend? Need to be able to access the facilities especially ibanking locally in singapore / malaysia
View CommentI would recommend Bank of China.
View CommentWhen creating a bank account in China, do they require me to have a China handphone number in order to use their banking facilities? I.e. sending one-time pin etc. If yes how do we go about it since we are foreigners and do not have a long term China number.
View Comment